Santa Maria Police Investigating Homicide of Man in Southeast Area of City

The discovery of a badly injured man who died at the scene in a southeast section of Santa Maria early Saturday morning has prompted an investigation into the killing.

At approximately 1 a.m., officers were sent to the area of Sunrise Drive and Bradley Road after dispatchers received multiple calls of shots fired, Santa Maria police Lt. Paul Van Meel said.

Officers discovered an adult male who had a possible gunshot wound and a stab wound, Van Meel said.

Police attempted life-saving measures, however the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives investigated the man’s killing through the morning and resumed their efforts later Saturday.

"They're reviewing surveillance video and witness statements and all the reports are coming together to piece together a picture," Lt. Russ Mengel said.

The man was found in the roadway of a nice neighborhood where violent crime is extremely rare.

It's not clear whether the slaying involved gang activity.

"We haven't eliminated it yet," Mengel said.

The victim’s name, age, and hometown were not released since family members need to be notified about his death.

Anyone with information on this homicide can call Detective Andrew Brice at 805.928.3781, ext. 1261, Dispatch Center at 805.928.3781, ext. 2278 or the tip line at 805.928.3781, ext. 2677.

This is the fourth homicide of 2018 in Santa Maria.

In February, a 19-year-old man was arrested for suspicion of shooting his 13-year-old brother, Leonardo Navarro, at their home on the 600 block of West Polk Street. The Tommie Kunst Junior High School student died later at the hospital.

Francisco Navarro, who was on probation at the time of the shooting, faces involuntary manslaughter and unlawful firearm activity charges along with four counts of child abuse likely to produce great bodily harm or death, one for each of the four children in the home.

Later in February, a 25-year-old stabbing victim was found in the 800 block of West Morrison Avenue. Officers said the victim, Albert Flores Jr., had received multiple wounds in his torso from a stabbing. Police have not announced any arrests in that case.

On June 19, in the1700 block of South Thonrburg Street, police found Thomas Dutart, 82, had been stabbed near his residence, Police said he later died from his injuries.

Weeks later, police revealed the victim had provided a deathbed description of the suspect as a Latino man, between the ages of 30 and 40 and about 5 feet 10 inches tall. The suspect also was heavyset and had curly hair, police said.

Support Noozhawk Today

You are an important ally in our mission to deliver clear, objective, high-quality professional news reporting for Santa Barbara, Goleta and the rest of Santa Barbara County. Join the Hawks Club today to help keep Noozhawk soaring.

We offer four membership levels: $5 a month, $10 a month, $25 a month or $1 a week. Payments can be made using a credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, or click here for information on recurring credit-card payments and a mailing address for checks.

Thank you for your vital support.

Become a Noozhawk Supporter

First name

Last name

Email

Select your monthly membership

Red-Tailed Hawk $5/month

Cooper's Hawk $10/month

Red-Shouldered Hawk $25/month

Or choose an annual membership

Birds of a Feather $52/year

×

Payment Information

Membership Subscription

You are enrolling in . Thank you for joining the Hawks Club.

Payment Method

Pay by Credit Card:

Credit or debit card

Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover

One click only, please!

Pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay:

Noozhawk partners with Stripe to provide secure invoicing and payments processing.
You may cancel your membership at any time by sending an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Welcome to Noozhawk Asks, a new feature in which you ask the questions, you help decide what Noozhawk investigates, and you work with us to find the answers.

Here’s how it works: You share your questions with us in the nearby box. In some cases, we may work with you to find the answers. In others, we may ask you to vote on your top choices to help us narrow the scope. And we’ll be regularly asking you for your feedback on a specific issue or topic.

We also expect to work together with the reader who asked the winning questions to find the answer together. Noozhawk’s objective is to come at questions from a place of curiosity and openness, and we believe a transparent collaboration is the key to achieve it.

The results of our investigation will be published here in this Noozhawk Asks section. Once or twice a month, we plan to do a review of what was asked and answered.

Reader Comments

Noozhawk is no longer accepting reader comments on our articles. Click here for the announcement. Readers are instead invited to submit letters to the editor by emailing them to [email protected]. Please provide your full name and community, as well as contact information for verification purposes only.